1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an auxiliary display rack to be placed on a display shelf and used for displaying merchandise or other articles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In supermarkets and other such establishments, different types of merchandise are frequently displayed on a display shelf as arranged side by side in the lateral (left-right) direction of the shelf, with the articles of the individual types of merchandise being arranged in rows in the depthwise (front-back) direction of the shelf.
As customers generally select the articles of merchandise nearest the front of the shelf, open spaces eventually occur at the front of the individual rows of merchandise. Moreover, since some types of merchandise move more quickly than others, these spaces come to differ in size from one type of merchandise to another and, as a result, the foremost article(s) of the different types of merchandise become out alignment in the lateral direction. This spoils the appearance of the displayed merchandise and also makes it difficult to see the first article(s) in the shorter rows because they become hidden behind the articles in the longer rows. It is therefore necessary to move the merchandise to the front of the shelf from time to time.
As a method for facilitating this work, Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 61(1986)-29327 proposes a method for displaying merchandise using an auxiliary display rack consisting of two parallelly disposed side panels spaced laterally from each other by a prescribed distance and extending in the depth direction, and two connecting members connecting the side panels at their front and rear ends. A number of such auxiliary display racks with different lateral panel spacings, each approximately equal to the width of the row(s) of the type of merchandise to be displayed therein, are arranged laterally on the display shelf in an aligned relationship relative to the depth of the shelf.
When this method of displaying merchandise is used, the unsold articles remaining in any of the auxiliary display racks can be moved to the front of the shelf by pulling the auxiliary display rack forward so as to cause the rear connecting member to push all of the articles forward at one time. At this time, since the articles in the rack are guided by the laterally spaced panels, they can be moved forward while being maintained in neat alignment in the depth direction. As a result, the merchandise can be moved and aligned simply and easily.
Notwithstanding its advantages, however, this conventional auxiliary display rack still leaves much to be desired in terms of utility.
Specifically, while different types of merchandise come in a great variety of different widths, the side panels of this conventional rack are spaced at a fixed distance. This makes it necessary to use a number of different types of racks with different panel spacing, which is quite troublesome.
Moreover, the conventional rack is inadequate as regards the ease with which articles can be removed therefrom and also as regards preventing the products from toppling when they are moved forward.